Free COVID-19 testing site opens in Manning

MANNING - A free COVID-19 testing site has opened in Manning to provide testing to individuals not only in Clarendon County, but also throughout South Carolina.

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control has partnered with GENETWORx Laboratories to provide the free service to all county and state residents, families and employees.

Employees who are required to provide their employers with weekly, bi-weekly or monthly COVID-19 test results can use the Manning site at no charge. The individual tested will receive an email on his or her personal account within 24-48 hours and can then share the results with employers.

Located in the parking lot outside the gymnasium area at the Clarendon County Community Complex at the rear of Weldon Auditorium, 7 Maple St., the drive-through service is quick and doesn't require the individual to get out of the car to be tested.

The site is open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Test results will be available within 48 hours and will be reported to individuals through their Aura account.

Upon arrival, the site's collection staff will register the individual(s) for the test, receive consent from the individual(s) to collect the sample and then proceed with a nasal swab collection procedure.

Once collected, the sample will be prepared and sent to the GENETWORx Laboratory in Glen Allen, Virginia.

All results are protected by federal and state privacy laws.

As seen in statistics from SCDHEC's vaccine dashboard and the 2020 Census, Clarendon County is above the state's 51 percent vaccinated with 54 percent of the county's residents vaccinated. Sumter and Lee counties are below the state's percentage with both having 44 percent of their counties vaccinated. These numbers are subject to change on a daily basis.